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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Culture Corner: Jiangsu and beyond...

Famous for its
classical gardens and criss-crossing canals, this is Suzhou. For what
it’s worth, it is known as the “Venice of the East” because of its
canals. It’s also said “In the sky there is heaven, and on earth there
is Suzhou.” You'll have to go and judge for yourself.

Aside from its
waterways, Suzhou is also famous for its classical gardens, which are
not gardens at all, but in fact the estates of the city’s former rich
which have been opened to the public. Full of meandering streams and
pools, stone walkways, libraries, studies, leafy trees, moon viewing
pavilions, opera stages, and flowers, these “gardens” have great names
like: “Humble Administrator’s Garden” or “Garden for Lingering In”.
They rival anything Western mansions can throw at you in terms of
sublime beauty, relaxation, luxury, and livability.

Unlike Western
mansions which are meant to impress with a single glance, Suzhou’s
garden estates are like mazes that leave new corners to be explored at
every turn and door; at no point can you stand in one place and take in
the entire property, which as you walk around leaves you thinking the
grounds are not only bigger than they really are, but feeling secluded
and relaxed at most times, even though you might only be a stone’s throw
from a street or another area of the “garden”. This is Blue Wave
Pavillion.

This is the
“Master of Nets" garden on a rainy morning. The blending of
architecture and nature are what the Chinese pride themselves on and no
better example can be found than here.

Stuck in a
time warp, this is the water town of Zhouzhuang (“China’s Number One
Water Town!!!!”). In the old town there are no roads, only canals,
which are the roads, and stone walkways between the small homes. The
architecture and infrastructure look natural and wonderful in this
decaying state, but lose their romanticism when I tell you it was a
place full of nothing but people selling souvenirs. It was here I
perfected my pronunciation of “I don’t want anything.” in Chinese.

Featuring the esteemed West Lake (pictured above), this is Hangzhou. To be honest, I couldn’t figure out why it was esteemed. History must play a hand in that legend...

This is the
mountain resort called Lushan where people come in the summer to escape
the brutal heat of China. I found it deserted due to winter but covered
in a beautiful layer of frost. I happily spent some time tramping
through the forests by myself, breathing clean air – clean air, such a
thing I never thought existed in China!! This is a lake in the area one
morning.

If I told you
this was the Rocky Mountains, you might believe me. But no, it’s
Lushan, again. Slowly crackling into glittering shards in the sunlight,
the hoarfrost was amazing.

These are two very happy boys who popped out of the woods as I climbed down Jiuhuashan and
became my walking companions for a time. I envied them greatly as they
had no cares in the world other than to play in the bamboo forests and
blue streams flowing down their mountainside home. Those with good
karma are reincarnated as one of them.

This is
Yangzhou and its "famous" five pavilion bridge stretching over Slender
West Lake. I’ve yet to discover what makes something “famous” in China,
as the word is tossed about when discussing just about anything. This,
however, seems worthy. (Don't worry about the black bars at the top
and bottom of the photo. They are the result of my "modern" camera's
panorama setting... :)

I don’t know
why, but for some reason I really like this photo, even if there is no
one at the tables other than the waitresses. There is a certain
ambiance, or feeling of comfort that doesn’t lie; Chinese restaurants
are great places to relax. And they entirely lack the foolish, tacky,
ridiculous, nonsensical, cheesy, and dare I say, detestable wall
“decorations” I’ve seen at places like Applebees and whatnot. A fake
alligator head wearing sunglasses… photos of high school football
teams… antique farming equipment…